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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Mike Tomlin still isn't sure when injured defensive stars James Harrison or Troy Polamalu are going to be healthy enough to play.

The Pittsburgh Steelers coach isn't against amending one of his longtime rules either, if it means one or both of his perennial All-Pros will be on the field in Oakland on Sunday.

Harrison, who is recovering from right knee surgery, and Polamalu, who is dealing with a strained right calf, will have informal workouts this week.

Tomlin hinted Tuesday that neither veteran would have to practice to face the Raiders (0-2). Traditionally Tomlin likes his players to get at least one day of training in during the week leading up to a game before letting them loose on Sunday.

He's willing to make an exception, however, for two cornerstones of Pittsburgh's 3-4 defense.

''I handle all of those situations really on a case-by-case basis,'' Tomlin said, ''with the understanding that the younger you are, the more inexperienced you are, the more practices are necessary before I consider utilizing you.''

Meaning the well-established Harrison or Polamalu might not have to see the practice field. Harrison hasn't played since a playoff loss in Denver nine months ago, while Polamalu's calf didn't respond quickly to treatment last week after sustaining the injury in a season-opening loss to the Broncos.

The duo was hardly needed in a 27-10 romp over the New York Jets on Sunday. The Steelers (1-1) shut down New York in the second half, holding the Jets to just 91 yards over the final two quarters to win going away.

Tomlin insisted, however, his team was far from perfect. Pittsburgh struggled to run the ball, finishing with just 66 yards on 28 carries. Through two weeks, the Steelers are ranked 30th in the league in rushing yards.

While he was pleased the Steelers were able to run effectively on a game-clinching fourth-quarter touchdown drive, Tomlin believes there's more work to be done.

''That's not what I'm looking for,'' he said. ''I'm actually looking for better than that.''

Help could come in Oakland. Running back Rashard Mendenhall is inching closer to returning after January surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee. Mendenhall has practiced in each of the last two weeks and could see an even heavier workload in the next few days.

''Maybe we will bump him around a little more in practice this week,'' Tomlin said. ''He has done a nice job of running and cutting at full speed. Now, let's see if he can play a little football.''

The Steelers may need Mendenhall sooner rather than later now that backup Jonathan Dwyer is dealing with turf toe. Dwyer has been a pleasant surprise through two games, providing what little spark the running game has seen and proving to be nimble catching passes out of the backfield.

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If Manny and Wallace can't go, we'll need to make a roster move, because we can't play a game with just Brown and Cotchery at WR (Rainey could fill in in the slot, I suppose, but 2 WR injuries when we only have 4 on the 53 man roster is scary).

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Originally Posted by RuthlessBurgher

If Manny and Wallace can't go, we'll need to make a roster move, because we can't play a game with just Brown and Cotchery at WR (Rainey could fill in in the slot, I suppose, but 2 WR injuries when we only have 4 on the 53 man roster is scary).

I bet Rainey is getting a crash course on running plays from the slot.

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The Steelers have a plan when to play all of their injured players and it involves their early bye in the fourth week of the season.

The plan is that none of their questionable players will play until they return for the fifth week, when they resume with a game against Philadelphia Oct. 7 at home. That is when James Harrison, Troy Polamalu, Rashard Mendenhall and one or two others who have been out are most likely to return.

Harrison and Polamalu missed another practice on Thursday and will not play in Oakland Sunday. Harrison has yet to play in a game, either regular season or preseason. This will be the second game that Polamalu misses. Harrison had his knee scoped Aug. 15 and it has not responded as they had hoped. Polamalu came out of the first game with a strained calf.

Mendenhall has gone through full practices the past three weeks as he comes back from a January 1 torn ACL. He has done well and he started to get some contact in practice Wednesday in pads.

Mendenhall promises that when he returns to play he will be the same runner he was before the injury.

"Just this whole process, rehabbing, going through it and taking it day by day," Mendenhall reasoned. "I'm preparing to get back to that level and nothing else. That's what my focus is."

The Steelers also could get their top backup inside linebacker, Stevenson Sylvester, back after the bye. He tore his MCL in practice before the second preseason game and has not played.

The Steelers lost rookie linebacker Sean Spence for the season to a torn ACL in the preseason. That's been an inordinate amount of injuries for the linebackers already in 2012.

"It's the game of football," Sylvester said. "The linebacker position is hard, it's hard to get away from the injuries. This year we got it a little bit but we're making a comeback."

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Originally Posted by RuthlessBurgher

If Manny and Wallace can't go, we'll need to make a roster move, because we can't play a game with just Brown and Cotchery at WR (Rainey could fill in in the slot, I suppose, but 2 WR injuries when we only have 4 on the 53 man roster is scary).

Both practiced on Thursday, so I'm expecting them to play. I'm a little concerned about Heath....usually if you don't practice on Thursday, you sit on Sunday.